My Apologies

It's has been WAY too long since I have updated. And I know that I promised before that I would be a bit more faithful...but now I really mean it. I know that everyone out there is really worried about how the chickens are doing. I'm planning a big update on them next week. There is a lot to tell and 2 less birds than when we started. *sigh*

Anyway...here is a quick update on a few MAJOR events over the last month.

I took my girls to watch the best performer in the world in concert at the Intrust Bank Arena. Of course I'm talking about Reba. She is my idol. Halie thought that I was crazy because I sang every single word to every single song sang that night. What can I say? I like my music...especially when it comes to Reba! ;) Here the 3 of us are at the beginning of the concert. My mom went with us too. We had a blast. Even missed an earthquake in all of our fun.

Last weekend we celebrated Ms. Sadie's birthday. I will make her offical birthday post on Friday, but I had to post this picture. She helped ice her cake and decorate it. When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday all she said was a pink cake. So a pink cake is what she got! She is turning into quite the baker with her momma these day! =)

On November 14th I spoke about a B-I-G annoucement coming. Most of you know what it is. But if not...feel free to check it out!

http://www.mealplangirls.com/

AND THEN....I had the most important thing happen. I became an aunt from Josh & Karen!!! This is my precious little girl Kate Marie Carmichael. Isn't she just perfect?!?! Love her SO much! If I could spend 24 hours a day doing nothing but holding her and staring at her I would. Can't wait to go up there for Christmas and spoil her as much as I can. Luckily we are able to facetime, so I still get to she her every couple of days. But in the background it never fails. Grandma Judy (my mom) is holding her with a big smile on her face. No fair I tell ya. No fair....

Until next week my followers. Have a great weekend! =)

B-I-G Announcement!!

There will be a BIG announcement coming from the Jones household on Monday morning! So excited to share the news with everyone. Stay tuned for clues and the big new on Monday!!!

Spooky Times...

A little late..but Happy Halloween from the Jones! This year Sadie really understood what it was all about....CANDY!!! She wasn't too keen on going up to the houses. 90% of the time she would cover her eyes and say Trick Or Treat. After she got candy it was straight back to mom and dad. =)

This year Hanah went as a "boy". This is her last year btw. She's too old. I told her that they could take Sadie around next year. Halie went as "the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland". Cody went as "scream". He only ended up hitting a couple of houses before he found Trenton and a football. Sadie is dressed as a "purple fairy".

Houston...we may have a genius on our hands!

So, yesterday was the big Spelling Bee at St. Joseph. Cody was 1 of 3 representing the 4th grade. He asked Craig to take off work to watch him. Craig said sure and came. Cody was
N-E-R-V-O-U-S!! He said that his tummy felt like he was going to throw up every time Mrs. Koester called his name to spell a new word.

Before you knew it they were down to the last three spellers. Cody was the only 4th grader and the other students were 5th graders. He was so excited to be in the top three! Then they called his name again to come to the microphone. His last word was "resembled".

R-E-S-E-M-B-L-E-D

He got it right! The next two contestants gave it a good try at thier words, but didn't quite get them. Congrats to my Cody who will be representing St. Joseph at the County Spelling Bee in October!!!!

Today's Ag Report

Old McJones has her chickens. =) (More in fact. Mr. McJones wanted a different breed, so now we are up to 15!) To compensate for the chickens Farmer Craig decided that he needed something too. Orange in particular. Out of all the "farm things" that he could choose from he went for a tractor. I ask all of you, my wonderful subscribers, do 15 chicks equal 1 tractor? I would say not. Do you know how many eggs I will have to sell to pay for this orange tractor?
But then I seen this. One of those moments that seems to change everything.

She rode everywhere with him yesterday. Sadie McJones lovin her tractor time with Daddy McJones. I guess I'll let this one slide....

Old McJones Had A Farm

Farming. It's in my blood. My grandparents are framers. My great grandparents were farmers. And now I'm continuing the tradition. Well...kind of. A little. Okay, not really. BUT, now I'm like 5% farmer. Only because I bought these!!!

C-H-I-C-K-E-N-S!!! I've been tossing around the idea since we finished the house. But the excuses from Craig kept flying. It's too cold outside! (whatever, aparently not to cold to cut wood and freeze to death while doing it) We are too busy! (maybe...but whatever) It's too hot out! (this I agree with, but still, whatever). This weekend I seized the moment. He wanted to go shopping for something to build dog pens out of. I can't remmeber what it was exactly because frankly, it's really not important. Anyway, I agreed to go along to asure that the trip would end in a timely and cost effective manor. That is until I seen the chicks. It's expensive to get started, but that's beside the point, right? Some how I talked him into it. Before I knew it we had all the supplies needed to raise chickens before even checking out the "dog pen building supplies". We ended up loading 10 Rhode Island Red chicks into the truck for the noisy ride home. The kids didn't have a clue what was in store for them when we got home! Needless to say they love them! Sadie especially. I'm happy to report that all 10 chicks are still alive, despite the repeated attempt from Sadie to hold them and tell them to sit. I do believe that they will learn to fly earlier than normal in at attempt to get away from her as fast as they can. Now the next project is to build a chicken coop. "The dog pen has been put on hold until completion of this new and more important project." Direct quote from Farmer Jen.

Forever ago!!!!

It's been WAY too long since I've posted, and I apologize for that. With the end of school and our CrAzY baseball/softball schedule I really haven't had a whole lot of time to get on here. To make matters worse my computer was broke for about 3 weeks. Now that it's back I'm ready to start posting pictures and keeping you all updated on our Life According To....Us!! =)

Makeover!!!

I won a blog makeover giveaway!!! So excited to have beautifulblogs.com design an awesome new layout for our site. Should have it in the next couple of weeks. Be on the lookout! =)

Blog Desgn Giveaway

One of my favorite websites SimplyJenna.com is giving away an awesome blog makeover. I would love to win this. My makeover would give our site the style update that it needs. Lots of bright colors and maybe even incorporate some of our family pictures. No more blogger backgrounds for me!

Hot Chocolate Mission

I have an addiction. A true addiction. Not put me on a reality show addiction, but still an addiction. Hot Chocolate. Yummy rich hot chocolate. Add flavor or not. If it's cold outside (sometimes even during the summer) and we are out to eat I order hot chocolate. It's not always on the menu. It should be. Then I could have it every time I'm out. There is always Quik Trip to stop at on the way home. But truthfully, I'm getting a little tired of it. So.... I'm on a mission to find the absolute best hot chocolate mix out there. I've done plenty of research over the last few years. There was a little ski lodge in New Zealand that had a VERY good contender, but seemed to be over shadowed by all of the teas. Tea is thier thing in New Zealand. Not hot cocolate. Therefore I could probably not live in New Zealand. Tea is good....but come on, it's not hot chocolate. Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions, websites, restaurants, any place that sells a good hot chocolate. Let me know what you've got.

The Rainbow Cupcakes

Most of you have probably been reading my posts on facebook about these crazy cupcakes that Halie and I made the other day. They are definately worth a blog! Every month our school does a bake sale. This month Halie's class was in charge of providing the baked goods. She wanted to do something for St. Patricks Day. After looking on line she decided on some cupcakes that we found at familyfun.com. Now let me warn YOU because family fun did not warn me. These cupcakes take forever. They turned out great....but the process requires some major patience. It didn't help that we need two dozen either. We started of with a regular white cake mix and mixed to according to the package. Then we divded the batter equally into 6 bowls and added the food coloring.


We ended up with purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Each of these would be a layer or the cupcakes. In the end the cupcakes would look like a rainboe when you bite into them.


Layering the batters took FOREVER!! I would put a spoonful into the cupcake tin and spread it to the edges with a spoon. Then ad the next color. So on and so on.

After the batter fun they baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. They turned out H-U-G-E!

The inside really turned out neat. Halie was very impressed at all of the different layers. They tasted pretty good too! =)

To make the rainbows on top of the cupcakes I used airheads. They were pretty sticky to work with, but it got the job done. It was more work trying to keep the kids out of them than anything.

First I had to cut each color into six strips. After they were cut I squeezed the different colors together and cut the "new airhead" in half. I was getting 2 rainbows out of 1 airhead.

Here are the rainbows. They turned out pretty good for my first time. Maybe my only time...

Next it was time to ice the cupcakes. We went with a green. St. Patricks Day and all.

The finished product! I put toothpicks behind the rainbows for added support and topped it off with a golden nugget. Halie was happy. I was exhausted. Just a meer total of 3 hours worth of cupcake greatness.

Cooking up a storm!

Finalized my Chili and Roasted Potatoe recipes this week. So excited about both of them!! Trying out a toffee dessert today. Should be yummy. I'll be workin gon the manicotti recipe soon. Hopefully lots of pictures to post too!!

Sadie

Took Sadie to the Dr. today only to find out that she has bronchitis and walking pneumonia. She didn't have all that when I took her for a cold last week. Of course it was only viral without a chance of medication then. Now she's on a high powered antibiotic and a steroid. Poor little girl. To make matters worse she hates taking medicine. Kicks, screams and spits out as much as she can. I guess that she's earned that right with her hosiptal stay last year. They pumped some nasty stuff in her then. Anyway, hopeful tomorrow she will be on the mend. Time will tell.

A New Adventure

Alright...here it is...I'm going to write a cookbook. Crazy? Yes. Where did this come from? I don't know...ask my husband. I've been working on this little project for a while now. I'm sure that it's going quite a bit longer until it is finished. It's not going to be a normal cookbook. It's different. A mom's guide of sorts. More than just recipes. It will be fun. An adventure. =) My husband and kids have really been enjoying all of the new dishes, desserts and cakes. Can't wait to start posting a few of them and some pictures.

Date Nights

Since December my husband Craig and I made a deal with eachother. We promised that no matter what we would take 1 night a month and dedicate it to our relationship. A time out from the kids, house and other projects to focus on eachother. We also agreed to take turns planning our outings. I took the first month. We ate dinner at Taco Tice (of all places) and saw a show at The Loony Bin. It was Craig's first time to a comedy club. He loved it. Month one was a success!

January was his turn. He is absollutely in love with Old Chicago's pizza. I wasn't surprised when he decided to eat there, catch a movie and end the evening with some dessert from Orange Leaf. Month two was again a success.

Last night was again my turn to plan. I decided to invite another couple (Jeff & Tracy) to go out with us. We knew that we would have fun with these guys. Tracy is a riot and Jeff is her perfect match. We ended up eating at On The Border and bowling at West Acre Bowling. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was nice to talk about the "good old times" and where we are now. Thanks again guys for braving the weather and the driving. ;)

Next month is Craig's turn again. I'm a little worried because it will also happen to be spring turkey season. I hope his idea for our date won't be sitting in a turkey blind on the river waiting for a big tom to come strutting by.....

Is it too late to apologize?

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone and everyone that I was around as a teenager. My lovely and wonderful daughter is showing me what I must have been like as one. Moody. Snappy. Bursting into tears for ABSOLUTELY no reason at all! I'm sure that this is normal though. Right? All, or at least most, teenagers are moody and irritable. Shouldn't they make a pill for this or something. Not for them, but for the parents. A coping mechanism?!?! It's very frustrating. I probably owe the biggest apology to my parents. Although my brother would say that I owe it to him I'm sure. =)Raising my own kids has made me aware of all the mistakes that I remember making as a kid. Or the way too many times that I didn't pick up my shoes or actually put away my laundry instead of stuffing it under my bed. All the times that I was upset about stupid things. Like Guess jeans. (Long story) The stupid and petty fights with my parents over nothing at all. I love my kids greatly. Just like my parents love me. They made it through the teens years. I'm sure that I will too. I'm just not looking forward to it...

Lost

The last few months of my life have been crazy. Busy. Stressful. Fun. Evolving. But it's over. The house is done. I don't have that routine of waking up and thinking about what needs to get done that day reguarding the house. Putting out the fires of what couldn't get accomplished or had to be changed. Stressing over where to put phone jacks or how square a wall really is. Then rushing home to play the role of mommy and catching up on everything that didn't get done during the day that is due tomorrow. Homework. Ball games. Quailty time with my kids. It never ends.

Now things are back to "normal". A new kind of normal. A boring normal. Boring to me at least. The last few boxes were unpacked this morning. Closets are starting to be organized. Everyone is settling into this new normal. But I have to admit. I feel a little lost. My project of building our house is over. Now what? Don't get me wrong. I'm enjoying my cuddle time with Sadie and just relaxing in the fruit of my work. But I'm getting bored. I need a new project. I need a new passion. A new something. Something to bring me back from feeling lost. Any ideas?

Have you missed me?!?!

It's been a long, busy, crazy, insane month since I've posted!!! We are finally moved into our new house. Record time too! 1 week short of 5 months. How crazy is that!?!?! Here are a few pics of the final product.

The basement before furniture was moved in.

The kitchen jsut after the kids got on the bus this morning.

Ms. Princess Sadie's room. Notice that there is no bed. She is sleeping in our room until Craig gets more comfortable with her being further away. =)

Cody's room. Can you tell that he is an OU Sooners fan? My mom made the headboard. She did an awesome job. Still need to hang up some pictures and a clock in his room.

I'll post some more pictures when I get time next week. And when the girls have thier rooms cleaned!

Happy Birthday Halie!!!

Happy birthday to a sweet wonderful and very helpful daughter! Love you so much Halie!!!!